


The Arcane Academy

by amray



Category: The Arcana (Visual Novel)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - College/University, F/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-06-21
Updated: 2020-06-21
Packaged: 2021-03-04 09:00:35
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,829
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24847207
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/amray/pseuds/amray
Summary: AU set in a modern day university/college. Asra, a professor in fringe sciences, is overseeing the apprentice (in this AU, a grad student) while researching sleep and dreams.
Relationships: Apprentice/Julian Devorak
Comments: 1
Kudos: 7





	The Arcane Academy

I rushed down the hall the only sound was the echoing of my heels punctuated by muttering of self admonishment and pleading that I wasn't too late to enter the speaker's dinner without being noticed. I'd slept too late while resting in my room after the flight, and as the only representative of the Arcane Academy I now risked embarrassing the institution which had funded my trip. If only Asra hadn't handed this off to me; it was his research funding that was at stake based on my presentation! Asra was the last thought I had when I swung the doors to the dining room open with way more force than needed, resulting in them opening with a bang.

About two dozen heads turned to face me as they sat in the small, intimately lit room. Most of them were established academics in the prime of their careers, and all of them were more dressed up than I was. I smiled awkwardly, moving as quietly as I could to the nearest free seat at the edge of the room as soon as I spied a relatively empty table. I hadn't even finished settling into my seat when I heard a voice behind me.

"Excuse me, that's my seat."

I spun around and craned my neck to meet the gaze of a tall, lean figure. He regarded me with a grin as I couldn't help but take note of how tie less he was compared to the rest of the dining guests. His shirt was unbuttoned low enough that I could glimpse his pale but toned chest...and his suit jacket was draped over the back of the chair I sat in, my hands clutching it.

"So sorry," I leapt up and exclaimed a little too loudly in a room that hadn't quite settled back into its previous conversation.

"It's quite alright," he motioned for me to sit back down before taking the empty seat next to me. "This one is free anyways."

I leaned back into the seat, almost starting again as my back brushed with the suit jacket. I moved to hand it to him, face reddening once more, but he waved his hand dismissively.

"It's much too stuffy in here as it is," he scowled for a moment before brightening again and returning his attention to me. "Save for you, a breath of fresh air in this room! What's your name?"

He listened expectantly, long fingers intertwined before him as if I were about to present him with some kind of challenge. It's only once that we're at even heights that I properly take in his face; his features sharp and well defined, his lips slightly chapped, and over his right eye, a stark eyepatch that must have been concealed before by an errant wave of his aurburn hair. Surely I would have noticed it...then my eyes wander back to that shirt before I catch myself again.

"You can call me Zee," I grinned.

"Zee! What a musical name," He repeated a few times as if trying it on. "What brings a spark of life like yourself to this dry affair?"

"I'm a masters student from the Arcane Academy, here to present my research, well actually it's my supervisor's...Asra's research really."

His eye widened, "Asra is your supervisor? You don't say!"

"Yes, you know him?"

"Knew him," He grimaced. "I used to work at the academy actually."

"Oh, wow!" Relief flooded through me in spite of his withdrawal from the conversation. "We don't have to dig into your time there or anything, I'm just relieved to talk to someone who is familiar with it!"

"Familiar," he repeated, his eye glassy for a moment before refocusing. "Yes, and what is it pray tell that Asra and yourself are researching?"

I went into the research; using dreams to unlock the hidden depths and potential talents of the human consciousness. He seemed knowledgable on the subject but skeptical, rousing a spirited but friendly debate. Our neighbors at the table showed very little interest, all being more traditional physicians, despite our attempts to include them with the odd encouraging glance. We chatted all through the meal, a lavish surf and turf affair much to his excitement. It was only once he exclaimed that lobster claws were his favorite meal that I realized something.

"We've been taking for over an hour and I haven't gotten your name!" I wrinkled my nose in alarm.

"You can call me Julian," He grinned. "I'm..."

The name jogged my memory into high gear, "Dr. Dvorak, I know who you are."

My breath hitched, finally catching up with my brain. Dr. Dvorak had been the chief doctor at the Arcane Academy during an epidemic in the province, and it was said that his negligence had been responsible for the former Dean Lucio's current predicament—Lucio was in a coma and not expected to ever recover. As if he could read my mind, Dr. Dvorak's expression grew dark and he avoided my gaze. The moment grew heavy as it was the longest either one of us had been silent all night.

"You never told me what you're speaking on." I smiled.

He looked relieved, "Leeches."

"Leeches?"

"Yes," he motioned wildly leaning back in his seat as if it were obvious.

I laughed, happy to see him animated again, "what about them?"

"They're very useful," he shrugged. "Honestly, I need to finish my slides."

I smiled and shook my head, before noticing that the room was beginning to clear. "Considering the early start time tomorrow maybe it's best I leave you to finishing them."

"I suppose," he wrinkled his nose. "It was nice to meet you Zee."

"Likewise," I grinned, moving to rise but hesitating when I saw him look somber again.

"Asra, from what I remember, is someone you should be careful not to trust," he rose, removing his jacket from the chair and putting it on with a flourish. "Sometimes he twists things he says."

I was confused, and felt the heat rising to my face. Asra, my professor, my supervisor, my friend. Who was he to say these things?

"But, maybe you should be careful not to trust me just as much," Julian smiled ruefully. "It was an absolute pleasure, Zee. Please enjoy the conference, best of luck with your talk."

Before I could respond, he was gone.

_Why would he say that?_ I wondered through my entire walk back to my room and evening routine. As I settled into bed, I couldn't distinguish if I was wondering why Julian would tell me not to trust Asra or not to trust him. He had been nothing but fun to talk to all through the evening, maybe it was because of his history? So strange.

I checked my phone to find two texts. One from Asra and one from Portia. Julian's words about Asra, the look of familiarity on his face, echoed in my mind as I opened Asra's text first.

"Just wanted to wish you luck tomorrow, I know you're going to do great." That was the Asra I knew, sweet and considerate as ever. I debated asking him about Julian.

Thinking better of it I replied, "Thanks, I have to say it's fun to be the one on the trip for once. ;)"

"The lab isn't the same without you, too quiet," His reply came back a beat quick, maybe too quick for a professor to be texting his protege.

"I'll be back making a mess before you know it. Goodnight Asra."

"Goodnight Zee."

I opened Portia's text, hoping she was still planning on attending the main portion of the conference tomorrow. Portia was the current Dean's assistant and fairly involved in following up on the work Asra and I were doing. She'd become a dear friend as a part of that process, and was thrilled to let me know Nadia, the dean, had allowed her to attend the conference both as a recruiting effort and to show me some support giving my first talk.

"Hey! Just wanted to say the party jet has landed! I'm in town, just checked into my room, and SO PUMPED to see you kill it tomorrow!"

I grinned as I typed, "Thanks Portia, knowing you'll be there makes this feel survivable. So excited to see you tomorrow!"

I set my alarm and drifted to sleep.

I woke with the ghost of a dream in my mind, but despite giving myself a few minutes respite couldn't come to remember it. The irony of a dream researcher who can't remember their own dreams! I started my day as normally as possible with some special rituals to calm my nerves—one of these included pulling a tarot card for a daily reading. Asra had leant me his deck for luck; I hadn't had time to procure one before the trip.

I centered myself, breathing deeply as I shuffled the cards for as long as they felt right. Reading the tarot was still something I was relatively new to; Asra had introduced it to me as a way to handle stress and it was usually something we did together. I gently reminded myself to focus on my own breathing, not Asra or all the questions I had for him, nor how much I wished he was here. I chose a card, inhaled and closed my eyes, and flipped it over. I'd pulled the wheel of fortune.

"Change is happening." I gave the card a voice by speaking its message aloud to myself, just as I would if doing a reading for someone else. "The wheel is always turning, and with it dynamics will shift. Will you grab the wheel in your life to help steer it?"

I shivered, unprepared to answer that question. This was not the advice I had hoped for, but nonetheless I thanked the cards and put them back into the bag Asra had lovingly sewn for them.

The remainder of the day had been all but a blur up until the talk. Something about anxiety makes time fast forward, I swear. As I dreaded the advancing clock to my speaking slot, I couldn't help but note that maybe this time traveling phenomena could be my own research piece some day. It didn't help my nerves, but it did muster a chuckle to myself as I did a final run down of my slides and prepared my laptop.

"Zee!" A familiar voice rang out behind me, and I had begun to say her name before I even turned to face her.

"Portia," I smiled at the familiar sight of my friend, dressed in a lovely yellow that suited her sunny disposition and her wild red hair and freckles.

"It's good to see you, this place is buzzing," Portia embraced me. "I was worried I'd get lost!"

"You," I looked incredulous, "please, you can navigate through passages in the academy I didn't even know existed!"

"That's different, years of practice," she replied with a dismissive wave of her hand. "I'll go get a good seat, right at the front. Break a leg!"

"Thanks?" I waved her goodbye as she went around the stage to find a spot.

I went on stage, and I gave the talk just as I had rehearsed for hours before. I knew my slides by heart and was able to ad lib around a few technical difficulties with the remote they'd given me to advance them. The research outlined was a small study Asra and I had done into the ability of dreams to not only unlock thoughts and desires well ahead of the conscious mind, but also the potential collective ability of a group of dreamers to foretell events. It ended with a strong outline that this would be our next focus, and contact information for anyone interested in following. It ended with applause, which I had noted from the talks I'd seen earlier that day seemed to be the standard, but I was relieved to have not been laughed off the stage given I was talking to people who often did more concrete work like surgery.

I strode off on an adrenaline high, and bumped right into someone face first. That someone happened to be Julian, who steadied me from bouncing backwards by placing his hands on my shoulders. He didn't push me away, instead holding me very close to him. Our gazes met for a beat before he released me.

"I had just wanted to say congratulations on giving such a great talk, I don't think Asra could have done half as well," he looked at me, a soft blush growing across the bridge of his nose. It seemed he didn't know what to do with his hands all of a sudden, fidgeting awkwardly with them.

"Zee you did amazing!" I heard Portia's words ring out joyously as she rounded the corner of the stage behind me. Julian's face went white as a sheet as his gaze fixed over my shoulder. "Ilya?!"

"Pascha!" Julian took a step back but Portia had bounded over to embrace him.

"I wasn't sure I'd actually see you," Portia all but whispered, tears in her eyes.

"You've grown up so much," Julian mused, messing her hair affectionately. "I'm sorry I wasn't there to see it."

"You," she sounded angry but hadn't let him go. "Why weren't you? What are you doing here? How do you know Zee?"

She relinquished her grip long enough to look between Julian and I. In that moment I realized the similarities between the two of them, from their hair to the way they carried themselves. They looked and sounded like they could be related.

"Pascha, I can explain everything after my talk."

"No, there's a break, you will explain now," Portia insisted, "somewhere private. Zee, I'll catch you later!"

She led him away by the arm, and he looked back at me apologetically. I sighed, a little bewildered by the turn of events. What my mind couldn't help but come back to was how close he'd held me, how cool his body felt relative to mine, and how frazzled the closeness seemed to have made him. I shook the thoughts away, deciding to take my seat amongst the audience.

After the short break, Julian took the stage to give his talk. Portia didn't return, but she'd sent a text saying she'd gone out for a walk since it was a lovely day and would meet me for dinner after the conference. Julians talk was mesmerizing and at times downright theatrical. He had impeccable timing, and seemed more at ease than I'd ever seen him. I'd never been so fascinated by the potential medical applications of live leeches throughout their lifecycles, and half way through he stopped using his slides. After his talk, I went to congratulate him but could find not a single trace of him backstage.

My heart sank a little; I felt like we had so much more to talk about. I picked up my phone and sent Portia a text, "Wanna skip and get dinner early? I'm starved."

Portia was chipper and congratulatory as ever over dinner, acting as if the entire confrontation with Julian had never taken place. She was gushing about my delivery of the content, and how excited she was for the dean to see the recording. I couldn't help but note that I'd never seen her so frantic to avoid the elephant in the room before; usually she was the one looking to cut to the point and be up front while I tended to dance. It made me realize she was probably pretty desperate to have it not brought up, so I followed suit. By the time we were done eating, I felt drained. Portia had been more talkative than ever on account of her nerves.

"I think I'm going to call it an evening," I said as we left the restaurant.

Portia nodded, "It's been a long, exciting day. I'm staying at a place just down the street; the venue hotel was all booked up by the time I convinced Nadia to let me go! I'll meet you there tomorrow morning for us to catch our flight back to the academy together though."

We exchanged our goodbyes and embraced, but as soon as I got back to the hotel I couldn't help but feel an itch to do something for myself. Dinner with Portia was lovely, but a little self congratulatory nightcap by myself couldn't do any harm either right? I beelined for the hotel bar.

I sipped on my negroni at the empty bar, mulling over the past day. It was a lot to take in; Portia's secret relative was also responsible for the biggest scandal the Academy had ever seen. I'd given my first conference talk, and the stress of it had paled in comparison to the mysteries I'd run face first into. And being told not to trust Asra...that was a first. I felt the heat rising in my face, not only because of the booze. The nerve of a negligent doctor to say something like that about Asra!

"What a pleasant surprise!" Speak of the devil, Julian had slid up beside me at the bar. "I didn't take you for the hotel bar type."

"There's a lot we don't know about each other," I replied more tersely than I'd meant to, but held my tongue beyond that. He was the one who had explaining to do, not me.

"Yes, that's true," he looked a little sheepish. "I'm sorry we couldn't continue our conversation after your talk. Ironically I wanted to ask if you'd like to chat over a drink, perhaps now could be that time?"

"Sure," I shrugged, looking around for a better place to sit. There was a small alcove with a padded booth, I motioned to it and finished my drink.

"Barkeep, two more please," Julian motioned to my now empty glass.

I sat down at the booth expectantly, clasping my hands in front of me while Julian placed down our drinks, "Thank you." I took a long sip.

"It's the least I can do," he smiled. "Now, I realize I may have been off base with how things ended at dinner, and then there was Pascha's outburst, and there's my history at the Academy..." he trailed off and took a very long swig of his drink to fill the silence.

"As you can imagine, I have some questions," I raised my eyebrows. He nodded, but did not stop drinking. "Who is Portia to you?"

"Interesting first choice," his eyes glimmered. "She's my younger sister, I haven't seen her for many years and our reunion was not the one I would have imagined."

"She caught you off guard," I spoke slowly, remembering that Portia had been extra determined to attend this conference after she saw the program. "She had been insistent on going to this one, here I was thinking she just really wanted to see my talk."

"It was a great talk," he offered weakly.

I raised a finger which swayed a little more than I'd intended. "Don't change the subject on me."

He raised his hands, "Apologies, continue."

"Why would you tell me not to trust Asra, and then not to trust you? Is it because of your negligence?"

This line of questioning caused him to recoil as if physically struck. We both finished our drinks, the entire booth smelling of citrus.

"Asra and I were close, but things ended poorly." Julian looked disappointed. "As for not trusting me; I can't remember well what happened during the incident, so I am not the most reliable for anything it seems."

I snorted, "I don't remember my past beyond three years ago, and you won't catch me telling acquaintances not to trust me—it does not make for a great first impression."

It was only the shocked look on his face that made me really process what I'd just blurted out.

"Sorry, I've been living with that for so long it felt like it would be more of a zinger than it is depressing." We were quiet for a long moment, each of us deep in our thoughts. I wondered if maybe there was a chance he'd understand what it was like, if so many of his memories were missing too. When he moved to speak again I couldn't help but nervously interrupt, for fear of whatever alienating comment might come up.

"I should really be getting to bed, I have an early morning tomorrow."

"Of course," he shifted awkwardly as I downed the rest of my drink. "I can walk you to your room?"

My eyes narrowed and I smirked at him. "All the speakers got their rooms on the same floor, so we can walk that far."

"Purely an innocent suggestion," he raised his hands. "I wouldn't dream of wrecking Asra's home life again."

"Again?" I cocked and eyebrow and we rose to leave while he turned red. _What was his relationship with Asra again?_

As I got to my door I realized I couldn't find my key anywhere on me. I could feel the panic rising in my chest as I searched the pockets of my business appropriate ensemble. Julian, who had said his goodbyes and turned to take his leave down the opposite direction of the hall, returned to my side and watched me struggle and mutter to myself. I was too busy chastising myself to notice his presence until he dangled the keycard between two slender pale fingers right in front of my face.

"Looking for this?" he grinned devilishly, and in spite of myself I snatched it out of his grasp.

"You, sir, bought me a drink and stole my keycard?" I feigned shock.

"Madam," he looked affronted, hand now withdrawn to his chest, "I abhor what you're accusing me of!"

"Then prove your innocence," I insisted, barely able to keep a straight face.

"Search me!" He spread his arms wide and puffed his chest dramatically.

I hesitated.

"Go ahead," he challenged, eyes alight. “Search until you’re satisfied.”

Emboldened, I took a step into his personal space and took in the sight of him. He really was beautiful in a tragic, haunted kind of way. I placed my hands on his chest patting lightly. He swallowed, blushed, and nodded. I nonchalantly began to pat him down, working my way over each of his thin but toned arms before circling around to his back.

“You really are more hands on than I was expecting,” he said, his Adam’s Apple bobbed as he swallowed.

“Did I say you could move? Face forward!” I replied sharply, and he snapped back to attention.

I was skimming his body with my hands, working my way to his waist, and around his side when he flinched and giggled slightly.

“Ah not there! I’m terribly ticklish you see,“ he whispered, eyes darkening. “Maybe that can be our little secret.”

“Don’t move,” I repeated, sliding around to his front again, following my hands.

“I’ll be good,” he reoriented himself, his gaze fixed upon me while I kept a stern demeanour. “Promise.”

“As if I can trust—“ I began to sneer when my hand brushed a firm edge in his trousers.

His hips bucked slightly at the contact and he grabbed my wrist and lowered his face to mine, “I am happy to see you.”

The game had clearly ended.

“How happy?”

“So happy I could kiss you.”

“Then do it.”

I didn’t need to tell him twice; Julian’s lips hungrily met mine. I leaned into the kiss, pinning him against the door to my room and pressing my body against his. I swiped the keycard and opened the door, putting space between us just enough to put a hand on his chest, using his body to push the door open. He grinned down at me as I walked past him into the hotel room.

I felt _powerful_. I couldn’t even remember the last time I was like this, had I ever been like this? The closest to intimacy I had was the odd innocent but loving interaction with Asra... _Asra_. My mind pushed thoughts of them away. This was not about Asra. This was about me, Julian, and this feeling.

“Lie on the bed,” I commanded as I pulled the covers back for him. Julian didn’t hesitate to sprawl himself out before me. His vulnerability made my heart skip a beat for a moment. “Do you want this? To do this with me?”

“Yes,” he replied, breathless. “I want you to have your way, take your pleasure.”

“Oh I intend to,” I grinned, unbuttoning his shirt to reveal his toned and broad chest.

I traced his chest with a finger, pausing to play with one of his nipples til it grew firm under my ministrations. He shivered, and I gave his nipple a gentle pinch, yielding the most delicious groan from deep in his throat.

“What did I say about moving?” I asked he reached for me when I turned to undo his pants.

He relaxed back onto the bed once more, and I finished undressing him. As Julian lay before me, nude, I leaned against the far wall and drank in the sight of him while the heat of the lust in my core grew until it was all consuming.

“Touch yourself while I undress.”

He obeyed, wrapping a hand loosely around his cock and stroking it almost lazily until I began to bare myself in front of him. His pace quickened as I returned to the side of the bed naked.

“Stop touching yourself, I’m done undressing!”

His hand snapped away and he whispered, “I’m sorry.”

“Good boy,” I practically purred against his neck before sucking hard on the tender skin that met his shoulder. I grabbed his cock and stroked it firmly, eliciting a string of moans and curses from him.

“You’ve got me close,” he groaned as I admired the blossoming bruise on his neck. “Please let me get you there first, I can’t last much longer.”

“Your performance has gotten me so far already,” I took his hand from its resting place on my upper thigh and sunk one of his long fingers inside of me.

He groaned again, pressing his mouth against my thigh and nibbling gently as his finger hooked inside of me and began slowly, languidly pumping in and out. I pressed him back against the bed, pulling away and letting his hand slip away from me while I repositioned to straddle and lower myself onto him. I eased his cock inside of me, my entrance already slick with want. Another string of groans escaped his lips, these ones instead interlaced with my name, over and over like a prayer.

With him fully inside of me, his hands on my hips, I watched him expectantly. He looked at me, bewildered.

“Beg for it.”

“Ah Zee...stars...please move.”

“Move?”

“Ah, fuck me Zee please ride my cock,” he panted, shifting slightly beneath me.

I pinned his hands down on the mattress next to his face while dipping down to kiss him and beginning to pump my hips. Amidst all my toying I had truly underestimated how close I had been much of the time, and before long I was breaking the kiss to lean back and pick up the pace. I cried out, my orgasm crashing like a tidal wave around me and he tumbled over the edge moments later, with my name on his lips as his hands found my hips again and he pumped deep and hard as he spilled inside of me.

I collapsed against him, his skin somehow so cool compared to mine. We lay there, entangled and panting for a long moment. Eventually our heartbeats slowed, and I eased myself off of him, shifting instead to the space next to him. I found myself caught up in his embrace.

“Thank you,” he said.

“It was my pleasure,” I grinned. “You’re welcome to stay to sleep, if you’d like.”

He smiled, and kissed me on the forehead.

“There’s nowhere else I want to be.”

My dream were merely of rings of purple smoke around me, eluding me once more. The rest of my sleep was more peaceful than it had been in three years, and when I woke Julian was still by my side. But he was grimacing in his sleep, flinching and apologizing to some unseen antagonist. As the sweat beaded on his brow I embraced him and soothed. He woke with a start, then relaxed at the sight of me.

“You were having a nightmare,” I clarified my concern.

“I can’t remember it,” he avoided my gaze but still held onto me steadfastly.

A knock at the door made us both jump with a start.

“Zee?” Portia’s voice rang out all too clearly from outside the room. “Is everything okay? We’re gonna be late sleepyhead!”

**Author's Note:**

> This is my first post on archive of our own, I really appreciate your time reading it! Thanks!


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